Garlic Mustard Boursin-Style Cheese

I'm not trained as a botanist, but as time goes on, I'm gaining a real appreciation for it. Knowing the basic characteristics of plant families gives a forager a better conception of the relationship between plants, and allows for much more comfort in the field, particularly when encountering unknown species.
A few weeks ago while I was out hunting morels, I came upon a plant I'd never before seen. Given that its flowers each had four petals, and where arranged on the stalk in a spiral-staircase pattern, and that the leaves had a distinctly pungent odor when crushed between my fingers, I knew I had some sort of mustard on my hands.

Naturally, I was pretty excited, since I'm featuring mustards for Wild Things in May, and generally like eating them. My balloon of happiness burst, however, when I discovered the identity of my mystery plant upon consulting a guide. It was garlic mustard, Alliaria petiolata, the dreaded invasive that has taken over a great swath of the eastern US. I had heard my friends east of the Mississippi tell many stories about how this plant crowded out natives, and took over their yard, nearby parking lots, beloved wild areas, and more. You see, the plant actually chemically prevents other plants from growing in the area.

Seeing garlic mustard for the first time in my area was bad news. I looked it up at the USDA, which was only showing it in two counties of my state. For the first time ever, I filed a report with the agency, showing evidence of the presence of the invasive plant in my area.

If there is any up side to invasive species, it is that you can eat unlimited amounts of them without feeling bad. As you might imagine, garlic mustard has a pungent mustard-y green meets garlic flavor that makes it a nice ingredient in a number of recipes from pesto, to chimichurri, and more, although some find it to be disagreeable. This was my first experience with garlic mustard, but others have told me that young growth is the best for eating, and that older plants possess more pungent bitterness. Sadly, including garlic mustard in your meals won't make much of a dent in their population. To rid an area of the plant may be difficult, and you have to remove all plants by the root before they flower and seed. Click here to learn more about identifying garlic mustard.

C and I had risotto with garlic mustard in it last week... I didn't know what it was until after, and I wouldn't have guessed it. I've spent so many hours pulling that shit out of the ground by the roots that the smell is ingrained in my nostrils and, try though I might, I haven't enjoyed any of the pestos I've tried using it. HOWEVER. Cooking it in the risotto seemed to tame the greeness that, perhaps, is the cause of my distaste. Lesson learned! I'm going to give it another try [although in the meantime, the farm animals enjoy it just fine when I pull it and throw it to them.]

"If there is any up side to invasive species, it is that you can eat unlimited amounts of them without feeling bad." I know, right? Well, good on you for reporting the garlic mustard to USDA, and the recipe looks fabulous!

I know that as foragers, you and I spend a lot of time taking into consideration the impact we have upon plant populations. It's fun to be able to go out and just pick and enjoy a plant. Unfortunately with these invasives, when we pick them, I rarely even see that we've made a dent in the population. Take the hoary cress, for example.

I would line a ramekin with plastic wrap, then lay down a few leaves, then smear the spread into it. Then you could easily unmold it and wrap it up at the same time. I bet it would taste even better if the flavors had time to mellow/meld for a day or so.

I'm a writer, cook, teacher, and wandering lover of weeds. Foraging wild edibles with sustainable practices connects me with the land I love, and strengthens my bonds with my community. I believe that learning to identify and cook locally abundant wild edible plants can be an important part of food justice.